Discuss Factors That Facilitate or Impede Helping Behaviours.
Discuss factors that facilitate or impede helping behaviour
Pro-social behaviour can be defined as 'any actions that benefit another regardless of the benefits or self-sacrifices of the actor' (Wispe 1972, as cited in Collins 2004). A subcategory of pro-social behaviour is helping behaviour, which can be defined as an intentional behaviour or act that benefits another human being. There are many factors that can facilitate or impede helping behaviour and it is important to recognise the situations in which this may occur.
One of the key events that spurred the interest of psychologists in relation to helping behaviour and what facilitates and impedes such acts was the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 (as cited in Collins 2004). Kitty was walking home from work when she was attacked and murdered by a man. It was claimed that Kitty screamed, shouted and attempted to defend herself. It has been reported that 38 people heard her screams and many witnessed the attack, which lasted for over 40 minutes, from their windows. However, nobody tried to help her and nobody phoned the police. This developed the question as to what causes people to help and act in a 'pro-social' manner.
A further subcategory of helping behaviour is altruistic behaviour (altruism). Altruism is concerned with the motives for carrying out an act of helping, and is a more specific behaviour. Altruism can be defined as 'helping behaviour that is voluntary, costly to the altruist and motivated by something other than the expectation of material or social reward' ( Walster and Piliavin 1972). Altruism differs from helping, in that there is a lack of concern for one's self-interest and that the regard is ultimately for the interest of others.
One of the major interests to psychologists is the concern as to whether altruism really exists and what is truly altruistic. It has been suggested that acts of apparent altruism may be better explained in terms of egoism. Egoism is more concerned with
Pro-social behaviour can be defined as 'any actions that benefit another regardless of the benefits or self-sacrifices of the actor' (Wispe 1972, as cited in Collins 2004). A subcategory of pro-social behaviour is helping behaviour, which can be defined as an intentional behaviour or act that benefits another human being. There are many factors that can facilitate or impede helping behaviour and it is important to recognise the situations in which this may occur.
One of the key events that spurred the interest of psychologists in relation to helping behaviour and what facilitates and impedes such acts was the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 (as cited in Collins 2004). Kitty was walking home from work when she was attacked and murdered by a man. It was claimed that Kitty screamed, shouted and attempted to defend herself. It has been reported that 38 people heard her screams and many witnessed the attack, which lasted for over 40 minutes, from their windows. However, nobody tried to help her and nobody phoned the police. This developed the question as to what causes people to help and act in a 'pro-social' manner.
A further subcategory of helping behaviour is altruistic behaviour (altruism). Altruism is concerned with the motives for carrying out an act of helping, and is a more specific behaviour. Altruism can be defined as 'helping behaviour that is voluntary, costly to the altruist and motivated by something other than the expectation of material or social reward' ( Walster and Piliavin 1972). Altruism differs from helping, in that there is a lack of concern for one's self-interest and that the regard is ultimately for the interest of others.
One of the major interests to psychologists is the concern as to whether altruism really exists and what is truly altruistic. It has been suggested that acts of apparent altruism may be better explained in terms of egoism. Egoism is more concerned with
References: Collins, Psychology for A2-Level, Cardwell, Clark and Meldrum, 2004 Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 12, No. 4, 483-502 (1995), (as cited http://spr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/12/4/483), accessed 18/03/2010 Judith Marshall, Blackboard Lecture Notes, (as cited at http://blackboard.trinity-cm.ac.uk), accessed 18/03/2010